The field of the invention is silk screen printing apparatus, and the invention relates, more particularly, to means and apparatus for positioning the garment or article to be printed in an accurate manner.
The silk screening of T-shirts and other garments has grown in popularity. It is often important that the garment be marked directly in the center of a pocket or other relatively exact location. In the past, this was done by several methods. In one method, it was accomplished by taping a piece of relatively thick cardboard in the spot where the printing is to be done and then placing the garment to be marked in the correct location by feeling the cardboard through the garment. This method was inherently inaccurate, and it often happened that the garment was mismarked and the cost of printing garments was increased whenever a garment could not be sold other than as a second. Any method for positioning garments must be capable of being used when the indicia to be printed is large, or of unusual shape or orientation. Sometimes the garment to be marked is relatively thick such as a sweat shirt and the approach of feeling a layer of cardboard under the sweat shirt was not practical. Other articles such as signs printed on cardboard, wood or other substances can also require accurate positioning.